The children at BestStart Napier Central have a strong interest in emergency services at the moment. We had St Johns attending the centre a few weeks ago and then we booked the Fire Service to visit too. When they arrived, the children got such a surprise. The lights on the engine were going and reversing into the car park. The children's face lit up with excitement that the fire truck was here. They all raced over to the gate and waited patiently for the fire men and women to hop out.

Waka (one of the fire men) took the role in teaching the children. During his time with us, he got the children involved with games. One of the games Waka described what was going to happen and asked the children questions about a lighter. The game was to find the lighter and give it to an adult. Taya wanted to have a turn and she found the lighter on the ground and she she gave it to me, as I was the adult. She got a fire sticker for being safe.

Then Asher had a turn. This time Asher had to find a pack of matches. Asher correctly followed what was asked and gave the matches to me. He also got a fire sticker for being safe.

Kendyl then had the opportunity with Lisa to dress up in the fire suit while Waka explained what each part of the uniform was for. Lisa enjoyed taking part  because this was all new for her. She explained to the children how hot the suit was and Clem (the other fire man) stood on Lisa's foot to show how hard the caps of the gumboots are. Kendyl was super happy she got to try on the uniform and she wore it for a little bit. Waka then showed the children the mask that they wear into a fire to keep them safe. He explained to the children what he was about to do and took a few goes at putting it on so the children were not to scared. Once the children felt comfortable with Waka wearing the mask, he gave all the children a high five.

Waka talked about the smoke alarms and what sound they make. Clem thought the alarm could sound like a pig. The children laughed at him as they new it was a beep. Waka played another game with the children where if they heard the beep they needed to yell out "FIRE FIRE" to blow Clem over. It took a few goes but the children did it. Clem fell over alright and he was ok. 

Waka read a book about being fire safe and what to do if there is a fire. Waka wanted to know if the children knew where to go if we had a fire, so he did a little fire drill with the children. When the smoke alarm went off the children needed to yell FIRE and walk out to our meeting place and he would follow. I was so impressed with our children they heard the smoke alarm and yelled out fire as they walked to our meeting point which is by the Whare. The children waited and Kendyl took charge in telling the children to keep their voices down so we can hear. 

Now it was time to sit in the fire truck. The children all raced over to the fence and lined up ready to have their turn. Lisa was on one side of the truck, I was on the other and Petricia was taking our photos in the front. This was their first time in a fire truck and they were surprised of how comfortable it was. One by one the children had the chance to sit in the back of the fire truck. Most children did not want to hop out however with a sticker on exit the children were happy to have one.

All the children had a turn, the firemen packed up and we thanked them for taking time out to visit us and they were off with lights and sirens, they even tooted the horn which gave us all a fright. I could see them laughing in the truck.

We would like like to say a big thank you to the Napier Fire Station for taking time out of their day and for coming into the centre. We thrive off the community involvement in the centre and we hope to see more of it.